We’ve written quite a bit about Majesty 2 so far. In fact, I’ve also got some review code an internet-click away which I need to have a prod at. But you can circumvent the RPS-information-drip and go and play the bally thing yourself. There’s a 640Mb Demo available to download here. There’s no details I can find what’s in it. Let’s hope it’s actually a demo and not the world’s biggest virus. To get a taste of this indirect-management fantasy-kingdom game, there’s some recent footage video below…

Played through both missions. The second one requires 75 minutes of survival but I managed it on first try. Pretty solid gameplay though my heroes never went for explore flags no matter how much gold I offered (well not really, I didn’t offer them that much..).

I wonder how long a game like this can keep you entertained though. How was the multiplayer on first Majesty? Might be a bargain bin title for me, like Tropico 3.

If it’s like the original, the missions are actually quite varied. I mean, considering the framework and all. You have to find X while not being able to build Y guild, at the most basic.

The original I never found boring or any more repetitive than any RTS… although I think the difficulty scale is wildly out of whack at times. Could be me, I’m not proficient as I’d like, but some of the middle range missions crushed me. Still had fun with them… I’m replaying the expansion after pre-ordering on Steam!

Final thought: Pre-ordering off Steam nets you original + expansion for free, which you can play now. Impulse gives you original when the new one comes out, which makes little sense to me. I’m sure you can find it cheaper, but since I couldn’t find my Majesty discs, I found it reasonable to get back in practice before tomorrow’s release.

My favorite part about the full demo level is that they start you off surrounded by five hostile bases. Wyverns and Skeletons and Rats oh my! Please wait for me to build a troop before you start thrashing me.

@bigblackjesus
I always put a 100 gold tag on ogres. Kept building up towers because the ogres seemed to go for towers first and foremost, giving my heroes pretty much free hands to hit them from behind. The other key is to simply tag their lairs to stop them respawning but that became pretty hard quite quickly because as I said previously, none of my heroes went for my explore flags so I couldn’t tag the lairs to attack. It also felt important to have as many heroes as possible because there’s so many mobs attacking you and it takes time for heroes to move from place to place. Obviously you need to gear them up too, so basically you just need a lot of everything ;) Ogres won’t be the worst mobs you will meet though, have fun!

@Flint
Exactly my thoughts. When I first heard Majesty 2 was being developed, I said I really hope it’s just Majesty 1 with some changes/improvements and new engine. And based on this demo it is just that.

I don’t like the new AI in some regards… heroes run past other heroes in combat to zap flags. Takes more time to construct buildings, which is particularly grim in the non-tutorial mission. Oh, and rangers don’t get experience for exploring now.

As for the surrounded by bases scenario, only flag one at a time until it’s gone. Damage focus is fairly critical. And if you can build guardhouses on the opposite side of whichever you’ve flagged, that seems to give you a spot of breathing room.

@Phinor:
Thanks for the tips the trick, for me at least was to make sure I built rangers, clerics and warriors from the start. Then exploring to where the two ogre lairs were and killing em, which gave them all a lot of money and experience. However the Ogres just started spawning off map a little bit after so I just built a group of 4 upgraded towers in the southwest where they come from which they never got through.

The gametrailers video lists a sandbox mode as a feature, but the buzz on the forums is that freestyle mode isn’t a part of Majesty 2. Is it something different or just a feature that never made it in?

That’s a pretty hard level, and I played the original a fair bit. It just keeps ramping up, and even my experienced heroes are getting worn down. It also seems to be harder to build an economy, and there’s a ton more things to spend money on than the original.

Difficulty concerns aside, it seems a really nice update on the excellent first game.

@Arathain
I found it easier once I stopped playing like a turtle. At first I was rubbish and using clerics and warriors to slowly kill the lairs around the base, wasn’t working very well. Decided to change it up and get rangers first to explore the trade posts + lairs and build all the posts early to get an early gold advantage, it worked pretty well. I was fairly rubbish at Majesty 1 but once I got the hang of the demo mission it wasn’t hard at all.
FWIW, I didn’t spend gold on upgrades until I had all the basic guilds (and had an extra cleric + warrior guild).

I recommend you use rogues – they’re fast, cheap and greedy. They work best a party leaders, so party goes where rogue leads them. Also do not hesitate to buy upgrades for your heroes, it helps a lot. And build a marketplace with health potions!

Towers in the Southwest are the most important element of the level. I’ve upgrade my rangers to the max and they are dropping most enemies at range. Just built a temple of Krypta, i hope it’s worth all that cash.. Stupid lunch break over.. Have Friday off, Huzzah!

Feels very much like the original game. Without the cool voices. Also strange that my heroes rather attack a building then help someone under attack two feet away from then. I do feel screwed by their “get the original game for free” as I already got it, just give me a discount :)

I finished the demo without using the group option. Only just figured out that you can now use that. It’s all about getting some higher level heroes. Once they reach level ten or so they’re very hard to kill. Until then your mages or rogues can get one shotted.

Grouping is essential if a bounty is far away from your castle, since it prevents the heroes from arriving piecemeal (as it would otherwise happen). The tougher lairs need a ‘critical mass’ of heroes to take down quickly.

Did you guys take a look at the preview build? The translation was bloody awful on it, in an amusing way.

The mechanics of M2 make it really interesting to play and its a delight to see your little soldiers go an arm themselves with new weapons after completing quests. Its kinda like being the GM of a MMO in a weird kinda way.